Thursday, April 28, 2011

vintage mau's moments: expecting important mail?



OK, this one got a little chopped off at edges, but look, my scanner is not very good.  I drew this comic early February of my senior year of college, basically while I was camped out by the mailboxes waiting to hear from Columbia if I had been accepted to their med school.  The day after, I got my acceptance letter.  Did my comic will it to happen?  If you print out this comic and paste it on your fridge, will good things happen to you?  Who can say?  (The answer is yes.)

This comic was not printed in "Chairman Mau's Little Red Book," (I drew it after the book was printed) so unless you are the kind of hoarder that saves old issues of The Wellesley News, you probably haven't read it before, or at least you might not remember you did. It was twelve years ago! 1999! All I really remember from that year was "Living la Vida Loca" playing in some endless loop over unseen speakers. Also, remember in the late 90's, when people straight out of college were, like, getting jobs at Merrill Lynch and stuff?  Also, see how I didn't know how to spell "Merrill Lynch"?  Now you know, all you people in the comments section who point out things that I spell wrong: College Me couldn't spell either!

Special note for international readers:

I have gotten several e-mails from a number of readers around the world who were wondering why certain international book retailer sites were listing that my book would not be available for shipping until August, when obviously, the book is coming out the second week of May.  I had my editor look into this  and she did confirm that, indeed, due to the vagaries of international book distribution, certain international retailers would not be making the book publicly available until August, three whole months after the publication date.

Not only is this a bummer (the book would be great summer reading, seems like a shame to have to wait until the end of the summer to actually get your hands on it), but it also makes international orders from these retailers ineligible for the groovy bookmark giveaway.  I WANT TO GIVE YOU THESE BOOKMARKS GUYS, but it's a very specific giveaway and the qualification does have to be a pre-ordered book to ship before or on May 11th.

I know there's no ideal solution, and everyone's best solution may be different, but I will just tell you what I know: if you want to get your book as soon as possible, please order from your choice of retailer from the list on the sidebar to the right or on this page here, be it Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, Powell's, or whatever.  As an added plus, I've been told that several of these online retailers will be shipping out the book up to a week early, if you pre-order now.  Which means you could be reading the book by the end of next week--certainly well before August.  This is what I know, and this is what I was able to find out, so hopefully this is helpful to some of the people who e-mailed me asking what the best way was for them to get their hands on a copy posthaste.

Thanks again for all your support guys, it means a lot.  I hope you love the book, and get to read it soon!

17 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:35 AM

    And now it's become checking your email a dozen times an hour, even if it is set to push instantly to your smartphone, which would instantly alert you anyway...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:26 PM

    Hmmm. I was sure the announcement said "preordered before May 11th" with no mention of the shipping date. I could be mistaken, of course. Well, it's your privilege to define your own giveaway. And this way you save on international postage, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You may be right about the original language of the giveaway. I didn't know about the foreign distribution issue at the time. But fair is fair, everyone that emailed me already will get their bookmark(s).

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:09 PM

    just got an email from amazon that they shipped out your book to me today!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2:39 PM

    Thanks, Michelle. That's very generous of you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3:14 PM

    Michelle - I just want to point out your blog has gotten me through residency. I have 57 days left of Anesthesia Residency and just had my last OR call last night....Not only has your blog gotten me through the hard times (archived) it has also given me hope that it gets better after ward. I cant wait to read your book!

    ReplyDelete
  7. marieke6:24 PM

    Ok, this just sucks! I could have ordered the book through amazon.com, but chose to get free shipping! WTH? Sorry, but this just sucks a**

    ...so even though I did pre-order the book I don't get a book mark? I am so confused! I emailed about it last week...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anyone that already e-mailed me will get a bookmark, because that's only fair. My only recommendation in particular for people who live abroad was that if they want to get their books faster, to order through one of the retailers listed above. So thanks to everyone who already ordered and e-mailed me already, regardless of who you ordered from or when it will be delivered, BOOKMARKS FOR ALL!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Renee7:00 PM

    gah! Book Depository has failed me! I even contemplated cancelling my order through them and getting it through Amazon but the extra $15 for shipping just isnt realistic for a poor university student!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Helixcardinal8:43 PM

    I got an email from Amazon also that my copy shipped! It'll arrive on Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Book retailer sites just hate international costumers
    I was thinking on buying the book through amazon, but they will charge me $10 for shipping, and the book is estimated to arrive between May 25 and June 15. So I said “it would be easier if I buy it for me kindle!” but in the kindle page of the book said “the title is not available for customers in Latin America”

    ReplyDelete
  12. Times have really changed. Today all the prospies said that they received notice of their acceptances on the INTERNET. No more waiting for letters, apparently.

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOO-HOO!!!!! I just got an email from Amazon that my book shipped! I can't wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous4:33 PM

    Bummer, ordered mine through B&N and no mention of shipping. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kristi2:16 AM

    I am currently expecting important mail (your book), and I am refreshing the tracking page for the package 20 times a day to figure out how much closer it is to me. :)

    ReplyDelete